Tourist uploads video of 5-star hotel in Malaysia not having Mandarin-speaking staff; netizens have mixed opinions
The Chinese tourist appeared to have started his visit on the wrong foot as he went to the wrong location to check in.
Is it okay for a five-star hotel in Malaysia not to have a staff member who can speak Mandarin?
This topic was debated in the comments on Facebook after a Chinese tourist shared a video of himself trying to check in to his accommodation and having to communicate with staff members who did not understand Mandarin.
Throughout the video that was shared on 10 March, he was seen speaking only in Mandarin and attempting to use a translation app to communicate.
After lots of gesturing and guesswork, he managed to check in after paying the required tourism tax for staying at the hotel and getting the details for breakfast the next morning.
The long journey to check in because he only spoke in Mandarin, translation app seemingly failed him too
The video uploaded by the netizen showed him first going to the wrong location to check in, as he was not able to communicate with his driver. He then took a second ride to his actual accommodation, a five-hotel in Malaysia.
The female hotel staff asked him for his passport in English, to which the tourist misunderstood as being asked how many nights he was staying.
A male staff member replied with “passport” in Chinese, before letting the tourist know that they didn’t speak Mandarin as the tourist continued to try to speak in his native language.
After more back and forth in their respective languages and the use of a translation app, the tourist seemingly understood that he was supposed to hand over his passport, which he did.
The staff then guided him to another counter to perform the check-in and the tourist remarked, “Aunty, speak in Mandarin”.
The tourist then asked about the check-out timing with the help of a translation app. Unfortunately, the app was unable to accurately pick up the hotel staff’s spoken reply of 12pm, capturing it instead as “does o’clock” instead.
The staff member then wrote down “12pm” on a piece of paper, where the tourist tried to verify what “pm” meant in Mandarin.
The video then cut to the tourist asking about the welcome cookie that he was given, whether he would get a stomachache after biting into it, and calling the cookie dry.
The female staff member then brought around a notice from the restaurant in Mandarin, with information about Malaysia’s tourism tax that tourists need to pay for each night of stay in a hotel.
The tourist seemingly didn’t read the notice and proceeded to continue conversing in Mandarin. The translation app yet again failed him, until the male staff member spoke and the app accurately captured the phrase, “Malaysian Tourism Tax”.
The female staff then told him he had to pay RM20, which he initially took to be RM2. The misunderstanding was then cleared up and the tourist proceeded to ask if there was breakfast available the next day.
She produced a document written in Mandarin with the location of the breakfast location and asked him to take a photo of it.
The tourist then said that he would be “on his way”, which once again because it was said in Mandarin, caused the staff to look slightly confused before she said goodbye to him as he picked up his belongings and left the check-in counter.
Netizens share mixed views of video
Several netizens expressed concern that the hotel did not have staff members who could speak Mandarin.
One netizen wrote, “2025 Visit Malaysia Year. The government and hotels should hire staff who can communicate in Mandarin… Those in hospitality in Malaysia should be able to speak all three languages.” Another netizen commented that there should be a Chinese person at the reception of the hotel.
Other netizens, however, said that the tourist was presumptuous to believe that there must be a staff member who can speak Mandarin at the hotel.
“Tourists should know what the local language is and a basic grasp of English… you cannot assume that there will always be someone who can speak Mandarin,” wrote one netizen.
Another netizen agreed, saying that those who travel overseas should understand some English phrases to make their travels more convenient.
The purpose of the tourist sharing the video also came up, as one netizen pointed out that the hotel staff did say “passport” in Mandarin and asked why the tourist appeared like he pretended not to hear or understand.
A netizen also said that the video showed the tourist’s lack of English comprehension and putting out the video only served to let others laugh at him.
One netizen also pointed out that despite having the hotel address on his phone, the tourist still managed to go to the wrong hotel.
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